Method and device for developing



Sept- 12, 1939- R. J. H. ALINK Erm. v 2,172,783

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DEVELOPING Filed Got. 2l, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. l2, 1939. R, J. H. ALINK ET'AL METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DEVELOPING Filed Oct. 2l, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HTTX,

Para@ sepan, 1939 v o 2,172,733

^ UNITED 'STATES vPATEN'r ol-Flce METHOD AND DEVICE FOR. DEVELOPING Roelof Jan Hendrik Alink and Johannes Aninga,

Eindhoven, Netherlands, assignors to N. V.

' Philips Gloeilampenfabrriken, Eindhoven, l Netherlands Application October 21, 1936, Serial No. 106,908`

In Germany May 29, 1936 s claims. (c1. 95-88) Our invention relatesto a method and device which is open to the atmosphere, in contradisfor developing photo-sensitivematerial, more tin'tion to closed devices such as are used for particularly photo-sensitive material which is de- 'developing prints with a substance which must veloped with' steam. i be confined, such as ammonia gas.

Our invention is particularlyadapted for de- To avoid spotting of the material, we provide 5 veloping layers comprising a diazonium comI hot-air circulating means which prevent the pound whose light-decomposition product is oxif steam from reaching the rollers in the periods of dimd by a diazonium compound to form coloring absence of the material to be developed, and we material as described in the U.'S. Patent No. also heat those parts of the device with which 2,034,508 to De Boer et al., or layers comprising the material might contact; thus preventing unw a diazonium compound, an azo-coupling comdesired condensation of water on parts of the depound and an alkaline vreacting powder, as device. Furthermore, to prevent the material from lscribed in'the copendingU, S. patent application becoming too wet, we provide heating means t f F Ser. No. 758,334 to Alinkvet al., illed December 19, superheat the steam. i

1* 1934. Our invention is also suitable for develop- Fm'ther features of our invention will appear 15 ing layers comprising a diazonium compound in as the'de'scription progresses. 'f

which image formation is effected by a reaction l In order that our invention may be clearly between the light-decomposition product of the understood and readily carried into eiect, we

diazonium compound and a mercurous salt as shall describe' same moreiully with rference to described in the copending U. S. patent applicathe accompanying drawings, in which: 20

vtion Ser. No. 1,436 to Alink et al., illed January Figure VA1 isa side view of a developer according ll, 193,5, now Patent No. 2,07,690, issued January to the invention tak'en on the section I--I4 of tir 12, 1937. Fig. 2;

To satisfactorily `develop such materials it is Figure 2 is a partly sectionized plan view of essential to have a suiiicient difference between Fig. 1 with several partsromitted for clarity. 25'

the temperature of the material and the tem- The developer shownfin -the ,drawings comperature of the steam, and also to prevent fcrmaprises a common base l upon which are mounted tion of undesired spots upon the material by conthree sets of brackets 2, 3, and 6l) (only one o densation of-steam forming water on partsrof the bracket oi' each set being shown in the gures).

device with which the material comes in contact. `Rotatably mounted on the brackets 2 are two col30 Furthermore, the developed material should asoperatingl rollers 4 and 5 each provided with Va sume an uncoiled or flat condition, and should plurality of peripheral grooves 38 and 39, which preferably be moved through the device without are staggered with respect toeach other and serve the use of belts or ropes. a purpose later tobe described. Similarly, brack- The object of our invention is to provide a ets 3 carry cooperating rollers 6 and l, similar 35 method and device for developing which meets in construction to rollers l and 5 respectively and the above conditions. 1 provided with staggered'grooves 'I8 and 'I9 respecvIn accordance with the invention, wefirst subtively. The surfaces of rollers I, 5, 6 and l are ject one side of the exposed material, preferably. of metal, whereas rollers 5 and 1 are mounted so 40 the exposed side, to the action of steam, sube(` as to be movable in a vertical direction to allow 40 sequently cool the so-treated material by passing for the passage oi the material to be developed .same through air, and then treat the other side while at the same time pressing the material. with steam; thereby insuring av sumcient temagainst the rollerst and 6. y perature difference between the materialA and the Rotatably mounted on brackets $0 is a roller 28 o steam, when applyingl the steam. having asmooth Asurface preferably of rubber. 45' The method according to the inventionis carl- Furthermore, afrod 28 carrying a helicall spring ried out in a simple manner in an open device ,Jwhich contacts lwith the surface of roller 28 by mechanically continuously moving the mateis secured thereon. Y- 1f rial, preferably by meansof rollers and without The rollers 4, 6 and 2l are driven in a clockwise the use of bands or'ropes, so as tol successively direction, as indicated by the arrows, by a motor 5o pass it by means for applying steam to one side 36 and for this purposeare'provided with sprockof the material, through an intermediate lspace ets'32, 33, and 34 respectively driven by chain 3l in which the material is cooled, and by means for from Aa sprocket 6I secured to a reduction gear, applying steam to the opposite side. 35 directly driven by a gear 62 on the shaft of By an open device is meant herein a. device motor 36. Rollers 5 and 1 bear upon rollers 4 5'5 I material being apertures 15 and 5 respectively either directly or through the developed and are driven in a counterclockwise direction, as indicatedy by the arrows. The material to be developed through the device in the direction indicated, by line 10. a

For generating the steam used in the development two vaporizers or boilers A and `B are provided; vaporizer A being used to supply developing steam to the lower side of the material, whereas vaporizer B serves to supply steam to the upper side. Vaporizer A comprises a rectangular crosssection container l extending the width of the rollers 4 and 5 and having an open top. Secured to the container 5 and extending over the right hand side thereof is plate 2l having a plurality of apertures 22 arranged in several rows and staggered relatively to one-another, as shown in Fig. 2. The container 8 is partly iilled with water I2 which is heated by an immersion electric heater I8. l

Vaporizer B comprises a container 9 which is closed except for 'connections 53,1ater to be referred to, and is partly filled with water -I2 heated to a level determined by the position of an aperture I5 near the end df tube I5. As the' water in 'containers I and 9 is vaporized during the operation of the device, the water vis always maintained at the proper level. The valve l1'may be closed when the device is not in operation.

In thev upper portion-of container 8 is an elec- Itrical heating unit I9 which supplies heat for superheating the steam developed in the container to a temperature of about 105 to 1'10" C.

so that the steam is dry and the material to be developed will not become too-wet. To more readily transmit this heat to the steam, a plate is secured to the unit I9. In addition unit I9 serves to heat the aperturediplate 2| to thereby.

prevent condensation of the steam thereon, and also aids the passage of the. steam through the apertures 22 by increasing the pressure of the steam within the container 8. A. perforated baille 2J is securedto the container l above the level of the water vI2 and serves to prevent the water from splashing upon the plate 2l and cooling same.

The water in container 9 is vaporized into steam by the unit 24, which steam passes through the connections 52 into a container 25 disposed above container l. An angle plate 25 is secured to the container 25 and is provided with a plurality of arranged in several rows. Within the container 25 is a heating unit 21 which serves to superheat and increase the pressure of the lsteam developed in container 9 which steam 15 to the upper side of passes through apertures the material to be developed.

The'steam generated by vaporizer A and leaving the apertures 22 is prevented from reaching the rollers 4 and] and moistening the surface thereof, by a vertical rising current oi hot air betweenthe rollers 4 andi and the apertures 22. For this'purpose an angle plate 42 having perforations 45, is secured toA the container l and 2,172,7ss l side of the container wardly-curved. portion -paper is passed along parallel thereto an angleplate having perforations is provided opposite the' apertures 45. The portion 44 of plate 42 forms with the adjacent air is heated\ by coming into contactl with the side of container I and rises, when the material to; be developed is not present, in the direction of the arrows through the apertures 45 and 48 on the right-hand side of portion 41 of plate 4I.

Similarly means are provided to prevent the steam generated by vaporizer B and leaving apertures 15 from moistening the surface ofthe rollers 8 and/ 1. VFor this purpose the angle plate 2G is provided with perforations 51. Furthermore a plate having apertures 11 opposite tp the perforations 51 is secured to the container 9. The air coming in contact with the left-hand side of the container 9 'is heated and rises, when the material to be developed is not present, inv the-direction of the arrows through apertures 11 and 51 into space 15, formed by the leg 55 of the angle plate 28 and the adjacent side of the container 25, where it is again heated by container 25.

For guiding the material during its passage through the device, upper and lower guides are provided. The upper guides comprise a plurality of strips 4B, each strip having one end welded to vthe edge of plate .43 and its other end slidably supported in apertures 5U' of angle plate 26 to Aallow for expansion. The strips 48 t loosely into the grooves 19 of roller 1 and are secured'to aheating element 49, whereby they are heated to prevent condensation thereon. Secured to the left-hand edge of plate 42 or forming part thereof is a plurality of upwardly-'curved ngers 4I loosely fitting into the grooves 39 of roller 5.

` 'Ihe lower guides comprise a plurality of down- 8 a space 55 in which the wardly-curved vfingers 40 secured to plate 42 or forming part thereof and loosely fitting into the lgrooves I8 of roller 4,1, and a plurality of strips 5I. 'I'he strips 5I fit loosely into the grooves 15 of roller 5, and have their right-hand ends secured to plate 55 supported from container 8 whereas their left-hand ends are supported by apertures 53 in the bent end of plate 2| in a slidable manner to allow for expansion.

Theplate 55 extends to the right into a down- 52, and a heating unit 54 secured to the portion 52 serves to heat guides 5I and plate 52 to prevent condensation thereon. From the above it is seen that heating units" and 54 heat all parts of the apparatus used for guiding' the material to be developed, whereby these parts are maintained in a dry condition and there will be no formation of spots on the 'material due to condensation on these parts.

'l'.'he heating units I8, Il, r24, 21, 48, and 54 are connected in parallel to a suitable source (not shown) during the operation of the device. By connecting these units in Aseries when the 4dye-y vice is temporarily placed out of operation the water can be maintained at a temperature'below the boiling point, but at a sumciently high temperature to allow the device to begplaced in service without delay. v

In operating the device the material to be developed, for'instance paper provided with a photo-sensitiveiayer adapted to be developed by coming into contact-with steam, is inserted with its efxposed side down between rollers 4 and 5, which move'same 'between-fingers .4l and 4I. As the it i'lrst comes into contact with the steam leaving apertures 22, which steam develops the image and also causes the paper to curl-upwardly whereby'unde'sired contact with.

in contact onlywith the guides 48. This displacement of the material isessential as the steamabsorbing capacity of'l the material would be greatly reduced lf it were allowed to come into` contact with the heated plate 2i.' i

Thepaper then passes'between strips '48 and 5l into the cool region between the vaporizers and is thus cooled by coming into contact with the air in this region. The paper at this point having been treated with steam on one side and then cooled, is strongly curved upwardly; however after passing between rollers 6 and 1 it is subjected on its upper `side to the steam leaving apertures 15, whereby .the curling is removed and it assumes the desired at condition. 'Ihe paper then passes over plate 52 and leaves the device between the ro1ler28 and the helical spring in a substantially dryand at condition.

Instead oftreating the exposed .side of the paper rst, as above described, the operations may be effected in reverse order; i. e.; the nonexposed side may be treated first, the `material thencooled bypassing it through the air'in the central region vof the device, and finally the exposed side treated.

with steam.

It should be noted that theentire apparatus l with the exception of the vaporizers is open to the atmosphere, and that the escaping steam is so directed and the various parts suiiiciently heated, that condensation of the steam will have no deleterious effect on the proper development of the material. Y

While we have described our invention in connection with specific examples and applications,- wedo not Wish to be limited thereto, but desire the appended claims to beconstrued as broadly as permissible in view of the prior, art.

What we claim is: 1. A method of developing images on a diazo layer developable with steam, 'comprising the steps, continuously moving the layer to be developed, applying steam tp only one side of the layer in a space open to the atmosphere, moving` the so-treatedi-layer through a space open to'the atmosphere to cool same, and applying steam to only the opposite side of the layer in a space open tp the atmosphere.

' 2. A method of developing images on a diazo layer developable with steam, comprising the A u 2,172,783" heated plate 2| is avoided and the paper is placed steps, continuously .moving .the layer to be developed through a spaceopen to the atmosphere. applying steam to only the exposed side of the layer, moving the layer through a portion of the '5 v`space-sl.1bstantially free from steam to cool same,

and applying steam to only the' non-exposed side of the layer.

3. A method of developing images on a diazo layer developable with steam, comprising the steps, continuously moving the layer to be developed through a space open to the'atrnosphere, applying superheated steam to only the exposed side to develop the image, passing the so-treated pressure to only one side of the layer, passing the so-treated layer through a portion 'of the space substantially free from steam to cool same,` and applying steam to only the other side of the layer.

5. A method of developing images on a diazo layer developable with steam, comprising the lsteps of 'continuously moving the layer through the atmosphere, directing steam upon only one side of the layer, moving the layerfthrougli a spacein the atmosphere substantially free'from' steam to cool the layer, and directing steam upon only lthe opposite side of the layer.

6. An open device for developing-images on a diazo layer developable by steam, comprising means for guiding the layer including a guide member, means for continuously 'moving the layer past said member, means for producing steam and-for applying the same to only the surface of the layer opposite the guide member, said latter means comprising a container having an apertured member disposed at a point adjacent the guide member, means. for producing steam and for applying the same to onlythe surface' of the layer opposite the apertured member and at a point spaced from'said member, and means to. cool the layer between said two points.

RoELoF JAN HENDRIK ALINK. I JOHANNES ANINGA. 

